The Story of G.I. Joe
1945 film by William A. Wellman
The Story of G.I. Joe (also known as Ernie Pyle's Story of G.I. Joe and G.I. Joe) is a 1945 American war film directed by William A. Wellman, starring Burgess Meredith and Robert Mitchum. The story is a tribute to the American infantryman (colloquially called 'G.I. Joe') during World War II, told through the eyes of Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent Ernie Pyle (played by Meredith), with dialogue and narration lifted from Pyle's columns. The film concentrates on one company (C Company, 18th Infantry) that Pyle accompanies into combat in Tunisia and Italy.
The film was released by United Artists on June 18, 1945. It was a critical and commercial success was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Mitchum's only career Oscar nomination (for Best Supporting Actor). In 2009, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant.
Plot
The untested infantrymen of C Company, 18th Infantry, U.S. Army, board trucks to travel to the front for the first time. Lt. Bill Walker allows war correspondent Ernie Pyle, himself a rookie to combat, to accompany them. Ernie follows the men all the way to the front lines through the rain and mud.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “The Story of G.I. Joe” is 1945 film by William A. Wellman. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Story, film and William, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “1945 film by William A. Wellman” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2033247. VIAF identifies the subject as 230666068. The Library of Congress control number is no2013003256. 1 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1945 and 2009.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “The Story of G.I. Joe”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow The Story of G.I. Joe primary sources, The Story of G.I. Joe archive and Story research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “The Story of G.I. Joe” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.